In the first row from the left: Prof. Dr. Tamara Lah Turnšek (Director NIB), Mr. Zoran Janković (Mayor of the City of Ljubljana), prof. dr. Mladen Franko (Vice-Rector UNG), prof. dr. Julijana Kristl (Vice-Rector UL), dr. Franci Demšar (Director ARRS) in ga. Alenka Avberšek (Director GZS)

On Thursday, October 25th 2012, a third traditional solemn awards ceremony of the National Institute of Biology was held at the Biological centre on Večna pot 111 in Ljubljana, at the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the institute. The award is named after Prof. Dr. Miroslav Zei who was one of the founders of the institute. The Miroslav Zei awards and recognitions are granted to the individuals for their outstanding achievements in the areas of basic and applied research in life sciences, and for their contribution to realization of the visions and the mission of the National Institute of Biology (NIB).

The solemn award ceremony was held under the honorable patronage of Mr. Zoran Janković, the mayor of the City of Ljubljana. In his solemn address Mr. Janković first congratulated the NIB on the occasion of its anniversary, and to all award winners for their achievements. He had stressed the importance of science for a development of the country and a development of the city of Ljubljana. He had welcomed all the initiatives and projects that are being carried out at NIB in conjunction with the city of Ljubljana, such as the “Assembly of the atlas of birds” and “Inventory of the beetle fauna in the landscape park Tivoli - Rožnik - Šišenski hrib that plays an important role within a larger European environmental protection effort”. He has expressed a considerable preparedness for even better cooperation in the future, and has proposed joint planning of the activities that would contribute to the sustainable development, preservation of the healthy environment, and most importantly to the health of people. All these are the undergoing efforts evident as the building of new recreational grounds and landscaping areas, and various initiatives to improve human health such as the human health-friendly center of the town free of the exhaust gases, and promoting recreational activities such as bicycling and recreational running.  In the end the mayor invited all guests to participate at the forthcoming city marathon.

The solemn ceremony was opened by the director of NIB, Dr. Tamara Lah Turnšek, who greeted the assembled guests, among them the director of the Slovenian Research Agency dr. Franci Demšar, and the honorable representatives from the University of Ljubljana, University of Nova Gorica, the representative members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the directors of various schools of higher education, the directors of other research institutes and public agencies, the directors of companies, and others. In her address Dr. Lah Turnšek has exposed the latest achievements of NIB in the areas of basic and applied research, and NIB’s fruitful collaboration with the industry especially in the domains of biotechnology, biomedicine, nano-technologies, and ecotechnologies.   She has stressed highly important collaboration with the expert bodies at the various ministries in Slovenia in supporting their policies in the areas of environment, agriculture, and health, as well as NIB’s involvement with various EU and other international actions that she sincerely hoped will not cease.  She has concluded her address with a statement that despite the economic crisis and the irrational cutting down of the scientific, developmental, and educational activities within the public sector that NIB is an integral part of by supporting the technological progress of the country, NIB shall not despair but will continue searching for new solutions rather than absurdly cutting down on NIB’s scientific research activities.

The following NIB awards were rewarded at the solemn award ceremony:

1)    The Grand Miroslav Zei Award for his lifelong work in the research domains of the National Institute of Biology was awarded to Prof. Dr. Jože Štirn.

In 1962 Prof. Jože Štirn has initiated the Center for underwater research of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana, and has at his co-founding of SAZU (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) also achieved the founding of the Agency of the marine research of the Republic of Slovenia in Portorož, where he was a director between 1964 and 1967. After the closing of the agency in 1969, the National Institute of Biology at the University of Ljubljana has purchased the facility that became a home of its newly established independent unit named the Marine Biology Station in Portorož. Prof. Štirn has joined the station in 1970 and has been leading it until 1977.

Prof. dr. Jože Štirn was a visionary, an expert of extraordinary broad view, a naturalist in the full meaning of the word, a scuba diver, a fisherman, a limnologist and oceanographer, but foremost a marine ecologist. At a very early stage he has recognized that the marine biology could be understood only if its research is connected to the oceanography, limnology, chemistry, and the marine microbiology. Thanks to him, the research at the Marine Biology Station remained multidisciplinary oriented until present days.

He has acted within the broadest international space, and he was granted numerous international as well as domestic awards.  In Slovenia he has built the fundaments of descriptive oceanography, introduced the mariculture, conveyed the basics for the research in fishery, and has established the fundaments for the subsequent specialized research within the individual segments of the marine ecology. With his numerous publications in the popular science magazines and daily newspapers he has contributed tremendously to the public awareness of the pollution of the sea, but has also exposed its natural wealth. He continues playing an active role in his area of expertise until present days.

2)    Miroslav Zei award for her outstanding achievements in the research domains of the National Institute of Biology for the year 2012 was awarded to Associate Professor Dr. Jana Žel.

Dr. Jane Žel’s main area of research are genetically modified plants, spanning from their breading to their diagnostic.  Altogether Dr.Žel has published over 60 broadly cited scientific papers, among them during last five years in the most prestigious scientific journals such as    the Nature Biotechnology and Nucleic Acid Research, as well as in various international monographs.

A number of her inventions in the area of molecular biology and genetics were patented. She is a member of the European committee for standardization for the domain of the genetically modified organisms, and a member of two technical groups at the Slovenian Institute for Standardization. She is also a representative of Slovenia in the European Network of GMO Laboratories who are performing the detection of genetically modified organisms. She is collaborating with the EU Reference Laboratory for Genetically Modified Organisms in Food and Feed as an expert advisor.

 
3)    The award of the National Institute of Biology for an extraordinary doctoral thesis in the research domains of the National Institute of Biology for the year 2012 was awarded to Dr. Tjaša Kogovšek.

The research proceedings of this year’s selected doctoral thesis by Tjaša Kogovšek titled “Trophic ecology of the selected jellyfish in the coastal sea” were published in six scientific papers. They pertain to the sensitive topic of temporary overproduction of these organisms in our sea.

4)    At the solemn award ceremony, the National Institute of Biology recognition awards were granted to all young researchers at NIB who have had obtained their doctoral degrees between the October 1st and September 30th 2012 – these young researchers are Dr. Danilo Bevk, Dr. Anja Bubik, Dr. Meti Buh Gašparič, Dr. David Dobnik, Dr. Tjaša Kogovšek, Dr. Marko Petek, Dr. Katja Stopar, and Dr. Tinkara Tinta.

From the left: Dr. Danilo Bevk, Dr. Anja Bubik, Dr. Meti Buh Gašparič, Dr. Marko Petek in Dr. Katja Stopar.

Solemn address of Director NIB, Prof. dr. Tamara Lah Turnšek